The Nevada U.S. Marshals Office is warning people about a phone scam which the scammers ask for money.
In these scams, victims are told they owe money for some reason like failing to appear for jury duty, etc. They then demand payment from the victims.
Typically, with these types of scams, the scammer provides instructions that the payment should be submitted through a pre-paid credit card, or similar payment.
“This tactic is known as neighbor spoofing, where scammers using technology to modify what number appears on your caller ID to impersonate phone numbers from friends, local businesses, and in our case, law enforcement, to appear legit” said U.S. Marshal Gary Schofield of the District of Nevada.
“Our office is receiving hundreds of calls from people nationwide asking us why the Marshals are seeking money from them,” Schofield said. “We want people to know these calls are scams.”
The U.S. Marshals are urging people to report the calls to their local FBI office and file a consumer complaint with the Federal Trade Commission.
Authorities say scammers use many tactics to sound credible. They sometimes provide information like badge numbers, names of actual law enforcement officials and federal judges, and courthouse addresses.
U.S. Marshals say they will never ask for your financial information and urge you to contact the Federal Trade Commission.
They say if the scammers give you a court order, call the clerk in the U.S. District Court in your area to verify the information.
(The Department of Justice contributed to this report.)
